Negotiations
by Gemmika
Summary: Usagi has finally turned 18 and she knows exactly what she wants for her birthday. Mamoru has a few concerns.


Usagi leaned against the front door and let out a sigh of relief. It had taken over an hour of pushing, prodding, being overwhelmed with hugs, and receiving the last of her birthday wishes, but she had managed to empty her boyfriend's apartment of all the party guests. Now it was finally just her and Mamoru with the place all to themselves.

"That was some party, huh?" Mamoru asked, sporting a cheeky grin, his hands shoved in his pockets.

She gave him a glare designed to wither him. She was beyond annoyed at the fact that he had thrown her a surprise birthday party when he knew that the only present she had really wanted was _him_.

" _That_ was a sneaky way of putting off another conversation about us moving in together," she corrected him bluntly, pushing herself away from the door and sauntering past him into the living room.

He let out a frustrated sigh and followed close enough behind her that she could feel the heat radiating off his body. His sigh was annoyed enough that she knew he didn't want to talk about this again, but she wasn't giving him much of a choice. "That's not what this was about, Usako, and you know it. Don't normal girls _want_ to celebrate their first real milestone birthday with their friends?"

"Normal girls won't live to be a thousand years old," she pointed out as she began picking up the paper plates and confetti that were cluttering up every flat surface of his living room. "And normal girls don't know ahead of time that they will only have four years left before having a daughter and becoming Queen of the freaking universe."

"So _that's_ what this is all about."

Her eyes snapped up to meet his. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, but there was a light in his eyes now, an understanding. She wanted to laugh out loud. They had been arguing about moving in together for the past three months, and somehow he had never gotten why she was so determined to have it happen the day she turned eighteen. Had she really not explained why in all that time? She tried to run through the numerous conversations they had had recently, and she realized that she had never actually said it out loud. She had just assumed that he would understand how precious the next few years would be. How had someone as smart as him not managed to figure that out?

She let her eyes drop back to the mess in front of her. It was easier to deal with than the patient understanding in Mamoru's eyes. She was well aware of the fact that _she_ was the childish one in their relationship. He would like nothing better than to skip to the part where they had their daughter and ascended to the throne. He didn't understand that she _needed_ the next four years with him before all of that happened. From the very start of their relationship, something had always been in the way: a dark evil that threatened the world, brainwashing, death, their daughter from the future, more brainwashing, a year study abroad… the universe had been conspiring to keep them apart for the last few years. Only in the last handful of months had they really settled into an actual relationship. Did he not see how important it was for them to have a few memories of a normal life before their future really began?

"Don't you want some time for just us before it all happens?"

She hadn't meant to phrase it like that, so accusatory. It was just that her frustrations and worries over why he didn't want her with him had been stewing for awhile, and now they had finally bubbled over. Was she just a means to an end? Sure, he would marry her when the time came, but were protecting the planet and being a father his real goals? She knew it was stupid, that he _did_ love her more than she probably understood, but at times like this when they didn't agree on the course they were on… it made it a little difficult to keep the right perspective.

He crossed the distance separating them in a few steps and brought her into the warm circle of his arms. She dropped the plates in her hands and wrapped her arms around his waist. Once her cheek was nestled against his heart he let out a sigh and stroked his fingers up and down her back.

"I hate making you unhappy," he whispered into her hair. "I wish you would tell me what's really bothering you before it gets to this point."

"I guess I just assumed you would feel the same way I did. We don't have that long before other things are more important. Shouldn't we soak up every minute of this time when what's most important _is_ the two of us?"

Okay, so maybe she was being a bit dramatic, but at least she was finally saying what was on her mind.

"Usako… do you really think I'm going to stop loving or wanting you when the time comes for us to ascend the throne?" He slid one hand up until it was cradling the back of her neck. "Do you really believe that we won't still find time for us?"

Tears gathered in her eyes and fell down her cheeks in thick droplets. "I don't know and that's what scares me! We're going to have Chibiusa so young, and we know from experience how desperate for our attention she is, and I just… I don't want to have any regrets. I don't want to look back at this time period in a hundred years and wish that we had taken this time to focus on each other. It might be the only real chance we get."

His arm tightened around her waist and he dropped his forehead to hers. "You are making it very difficult for me to be the responsible one here. I can't argue with your reasoning, especially when I don't know how things will be for us in the future."

She let out a wet, teary laugh. "Then why are you still saying no?"

"I'm not… at least not directly," he admitted. "You made some really solid points that I can't argue with, but I need you to understand my concerns before we come to a decision."

She tilted her head to one side, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "That sounded almost like a yes, but also like a no. I'm not sure I like where this is going."

He put a finger to her lips. "Shush, it's my turn to talk."

She rolled her eyes, but let him lead her over to a space on the sofa that was relatively clean. He pulled her into his lap and cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing away the last remnants of her tears. It was impossible to be mad at him when he was treating her so tenderly. He wasn't playing fair, and he knew it.

"Now, Usako, I know you think that I have something against living with you but I want you to know right now that it's not true. In all honesty, I've been looking at bigger apartments in the last month, ones that are in between my University and your school…"

"What? Really?!" She knew she was interrupting him, but she couldn't help herself. The surprise she felt was so overwhelming that she couldn't keep it contained.

He nodded, and her favorite soft smile settled around his eyes. "I'd like you to come and take a look at a few of them with me, but before we do that we need to talk about why it may not be a good idea."

"Mamo, how could us living together be anything but wonderful?"

His lips twitched. "That's kind of the problem."

"I don't understand. How could that be a _problem_?" She wasn't following his logic at all. What did he mean?

"Do you remember last Thursday?" He asked her. His free hand was roaming up her inner thigh, forcing a blush to her cheeks. How could she forget? When the alarm went off to wake them up for class, she had unplugged it and then spent the next two hours making him forget any possible reason he had for getting out of bed. It had been a very, very good morning.

"Of course I remember. It's days that like that make me _want_ to live with you, rather than just spend a night here and there." His hand had stalled on her leg, his fingers just inches from where she wanted him to be. She wasn't sure if he was teasing her on purpose or not, but it was driving her crazy.

"And it's days like that which make me think it's not a good idea," he said with a sigh, moving his hand back to her waist. "I can't just skip classes, Usako. I want to be a doctor, remember? It's important for me to show the professors that I'm serious about my studies. If I'm spending my mornings in bed with you, I'm not exactly getting the most out of my education."

Oh.

She hadn't really been thinking in terms of their studies when she'd begun her campaign to move in with him. Honestly, it had been the furthest thing from her mind. In her way of thinking, their education didn't really mean much. In a few years she was going to claim her place as Queen of Silver Millennium. Having a degree to teach kindergartener's wasn't really going to help with that. She hadn't realized how important it was to him to get his medical degree, even if he wouldn't really be using it. Clearly it meant a great deal.

"If I can promise to keep my hands to myself in the mornings, can we still go and look at apartments?" She was trying to compromise, even though she hated making that promise. She enjoyed early morning lovemaking most of all, and she didn't like the thought of giving that up. It was only her desire to share all the daily moments of their life that made it possible for her to suggest it. A small part of her hoped that he wouldn't make her stick to that promise.

Okay. A big part.

He chuckled and brought his mouth to hers, giving her a warm kiss that left her breathless and wanting. "My mornings are still all yours on the weekend," he whispered in her ear. His words sent a bolt of lust straight through her.

She was so close to what she wanted that she could almost taste it. Victory at hand, her fingers slid up his chest and she began undoing his shirt, one button at a time. "So, is that a yes to moving in together?"

"One last condition," he murmured against her skin, his lips working his way down the side of her neck.

She let out a groan. "What else could you want?"

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her collar bone. "I want you to maintain an average of at least 75% in your classes. I don't want you to be so distracted by us living together that you fail your last year of high school."

That was totally and completely unfair. She didn't even maintain that kind of grade _now_ while living at home. How was she supposed to get her grades up to that percentage and keep them there?

"I'm better off just staying with my parents," she muttered, dropping her hands from his shirt. Why even keep trying, the mood was ruined anyway with all this talk of studying.

He grinned and moved his lips down to the top of her breast. His teeth grazed the soft skin and she hissed at him. Why did he love teasing her so much? She couldn't think when he touched her like this.

"I promise that you'll be rewarded for keeping your grades up." His fingers began moving over her body again, giving her a small demonstration of what he meant by 'rewarded.'

Damn him.

She let out an annoyed sigh and grasped him by the back of his neck so she could kiss him properly. "Fine, you win. But you have to tutor me yourself, no foisting me off on someone else."

"Deal."

Happy freaking birthday to her.


End file.
